Club Star: A hiking we will go!

Autumn is such a beautiful time of year to take a hike. We enjoyed wonderful weather, colorful leaves all around us, enjoyable friends and fresh air. The kids played, caught lady bugs, and collected leaves. What a great day off from school!

We are so proud of OUR Khyla!!!

Khyla and her parents are great family friends. On top of this, Khyla is an excellent gymnast. She made the national team for her age group. What a great reason for a party! We spent the evening celebrating Khyla and her accomplishments. We are very proud of her!

It's snow much fun to play soccer!

How to play soccer like a princess. Wear a hat, scarf, gloves and footless tights.
The mean ref (a.k.a. Matt) made the princess take off her scarf. There were shouts of, "Bad call ref" from the sidelines.
The first snowfall to hit the valley started in the middle of Makenna's game. It was hard for the girls to concentrate on the ball when there were snowflakes to catch on their tongues.
Snowflakes and Poweraide!

Hayride to the pumpkin patch

We went to J and J Nursery for a hayride out to their pumpkin patch. Once again I was totally our of tune with nature. I wore capris. Who thinks about poking vines everywhere? Apparently everyone but me. I came home telling Matt about our adventure, complete with the tale of pulling the pumpkins from their sharp vines. I thought everyone was as challenged as I was. I was wrong. Jayden spoke up at this point in my story telling and said, "Miss Kelley (the other mom we were with) used her pocket knife." ***Note to self, next year wear long pants, sturdy shoes, and bring tools. How long have I been doing this?!? I may get it down by the time I have grandchildren.

Semi-private tumbling lesson

Makenna and her friend, Taylor, had a semi-private tumbling lesson together. They are trying to get their back handspring. Makenna is so close. It's so much fun to watch her.

Liz's Surprise 6th Birthday Party

For Liz's birthday this year we all hid and jumped out yelling surprise. Boy was she surprised! Liz was speechless the first couple minutes of her party. It was priceless. As always, Lorie made an amazing "safe", adorable, yummy cake to be enjoyed by all.
After much searching we were able to find Liz the blue Hannah Montana back pack that her heart desired. The party was so much fun.

Soccer Saturday

This week Jayden was very excited to help Matt ref Makenna and Devon's soccer games. He was the sideline referee. True to his personality, Jayden was very official. He had so much fun and was disappointed when each of the games ended.

A close friend of ours joked that we were already putting our son to work in the fields. Too funny!

Once again, Jayden's Strikers' soccer game was so intense that I forgot to take pictures. The camera sat in the bag by my chair the entire game. Hopefully I'll remember next time!

A little bit of our Saturday...

Devon's team this season is called the Torchics (a.k.a. a fire type Pokemon). He is on a bigger field and worn out by the end of the game. Matt is now an "official" ref. He has been doing it for years, but he attended the training and was given the gear this year.
Thankfully today's storm came in after the three morning soccer games and before Matt took Jayden to the REAL Salt Lake soccer game in the evening. This gorgeous rainbow appeared as they left for the game.

Makenna tumbling so Nana can see :-)

Makenna lost her first tooth 9/15/08

Makenna's tooth became very loose all of a sudden tonight. It hurt to eat and she was very hungry after going to dance and her brother's soccer practice. She set her mind to pulling that tooth out tonight and there would be no stopping her.
She would tear up and then sob, but keeping it in one more day was not an option.

Success!!!

There were tears of frustration, pain, determination and relief tonight. Oh I forgot to mention the mommy tears, when the mommy cried because her "baby" lost her first tooth.

For all of the editors reading my blog :-)...on the plastic baggie it reads "Makenna's" instead of "Makenna" because I started off writing "Makenna's first tooth" and then added the "lost her" and forgot to lose the apostrophe. Okay, now someone needs to edit my explanation...LOL.

Now it's time for bed and Makenna wants to know how long she will have this space between her teeth. She says she is excited that she lost a tooth but sad that she does not have all of her teeth anymore. Being six has many challenges.

Devon earned his blue belt!

Devon earned his blue belt in August. This was the first parent's day since he received it. The boys stretched out and then demonstrated their sparring abilities. Devon got right in there and threw some great punches and kicks. A little ways into it. I was hit with very strong emotion. Devon nailed a boy right in the mouth and the kid went to the ground. Devon immediately went up to him. I could tell he was saying, "are you all right" and "I'm sorry." I was sitting on the sidelines watching my sweet boy go from sparring to compassion with great ease. He looked so concerned. I know it's Karate and these things will happen, but as a mother, I loved seeing the loving side I have tried so hard to teach my children. As hard as he was sparring, I was fighting back the tears just as hard.

Makenna starts Elites

Makenna was asked to join the Elites at her dance studio. Elites is the advanced show team. Her group is the Tiny Elites. They range in age from 5 to 8. Makenna was beyond tickled when she received the news. She woke up today saying, "I can't believe today is my first day of Elites." The class was definitely more challenging. They focus a lot more on individual technique. On the ride home she was telling me it was hard work, but she loved it.

Jayden's Strikers' season is under way! 9/2/08

Jayden LOVES soccer. The more he plays the more he LOVES it. Tonight's game was played against Rampage. While waiting for the game to start Devon finished his book, Makenna practiced her back walk overs and Jayden warmed up on the swamp-like field. It was soaked, but added some extra "excitement" to the game.

Matt is disappointed that he is missing all of Jayden's Tuesday games. He has class on Tuesdays for the first part of this semester.

This was Jayden's third game of the season. His team is 3-0. They have really come together as a team. It's so much fun to watch the improvement and strategy in the games.
Jayden is number 9 on the red team.

Back to School Party 9/2/08

Makenna went to a back-to-school party on Tuesday. It was hosted by one of her friends from gymnastics. The girls really "clicked" as friends and were happy to see each other after a long summer apart.